Raptor center and raptor only veterinary clinic in danger of closing down

Hello everyone,

I’m highjacking our forum to inform you about a very pressing situation for the wild birds of prey and the falconers in Quebec, Canada. If my post is not appropriate, I apologize and it can be removed or put elsewhere. If it is ok, don’t hesitate to share this as largely as possible.

We falconers are profoundly blessed in Quebec to have access to one of the 5 largest birds of prey rehabilitation center, which operates hands in hands with a high quality birds of prey clinic, the « Clinique des oiseaux de proie » or COP. The COP treats way over 300 wild birds of prey every year, the St. Lawrence River being a major factor in concentrating the raptors in Quebec during their migration.

As it is a part of University of Montreal’s Faculty of veterinary medicine, is the only place in Quebec for veterinarians to learn about high quality birds of prey medicine and surgery. It is the best resource for us falconers when our birds become sick, as they have a quick and easy access to all of the FVM resources such as digital radiographs, CT-Scan, MRI, endoscopy, nebulization, and specialists such as ophthalmologist or orthopedic surgeons are always available to treat eye injuries, cataracts, flesh trauma or broken bones. Orthopedic surgeons often use advanced techniques such as bone grafting to help our precious companions as well as wild birds of prey to recover from an injury. Moreover, these services are delivered by professionals who know how to manipulate and take care of birds of prey, not by parrots, dogs or large animal veterinarians. Because of the COP, the University of Montreal is one of the few places in North America where veterinary students can learn raptor medicine and surgery hands on. This high level of care is taught to the veterinary students, who can in turn give access to quality care for our birds as well as wild birds wherever they may choose to practice. More advanced students in Masters or PhD work with the COP to advance knowledge of raptors biology and medicine by doing research projects and thesis using the large and diverse caseload and high number and diversity of patients at the COP as the basis for their projects.

Sorry for lengthy introduction. Now, let me expose to those of you who kept reading the life-threatening problem the COP faces.

In the last years, the government of Quebec cut severely into university financing, and thus the University of Montreal now has difficult financial choices to make that will affect the COP. Aside from support from the FVM and some private donations, the COP has been in operation since 1986 with absolutely no financing of any form. Caring for wild birds of prey generates no income, and the local falconers’ patronage isn’t nearly enough to support the large-scale operations of the COP.

Discussions are ongoing between the Ministry of Forest, fauna and Parks to obtain some financial support, and private foundations have been approached as well. However the situation is dire as the FVM has until March 2016 to decide whether or not they will continue to finance the COP activities, and they have much more pressing and “important” projects to fund than the COP. A minimal amount of 100 000 CAN$ has to be collected to maintain the COP activities for the coming year, and the ideal situation would be to have a recurring financing for the coming 3 years, which would allow the COP more time to conclude the discussions with the Ministry and the private foundations. If only 200 persons agreed to give 500CAN$ once a year for the next 3 years, the whole fundraising operation would be a success. That would be an awesome gift for the COP 30th anniversary!

This is the reason why I’m reaching out to falconers worldwide that may understand better than anyone the impacts the loss of such a huge rehabilitation center, veterinary clinic specialized in caring for birds of prey and rare veterinary teaching center for future veterinarians interested in raptor medicine. Our community has always been right on the battlefront for causes that affect wild raptors, and even if you may not have known about the existence of the COP until now, even if Quebec is far from you, I truly hope that the gravity of the situation that the COP is facing and the consequences its closing would have on the rehabilitation of wild, injured raptors as well as on the future of raptors veterinary medicine and access to veterinary care for falconry birds will touch you and bring forth once again how falconers generously give their support to the conservation of birds of prey.

I invite you to take a look at the testimonials about the importance of the COP by people who understand it and participate in the fundraising. The videos are in French, I can translate them if need be.

Re: Raptor center and raptor only veterinary clinic in danger of closing down

I wanna THANK you people, international donations have already started to come in. Falconers are really a great community when it comes to raptor conservation, you guys rock! And if you can't donate but can spread the word, all the better!